Marks
by AoiTsuki1412
Summary: It had been 2 months since they moved to the new house and Haruka's skin had been decorated by some unfathomable marks on his body. With Rin being too busy, Haruka has to endure it all alone with all the strength left in him. He knew that Rin is trying his best to change their life, so he'll try his best to hold on. Where did the marks came from and why did he choose Haruka ?
**Uh... I know I still have a few stories to be updated but... I couldn't help myself to write a new one ! This is just something random that I wrote during every little gaps I have in my schedule - like 10 mins or so. This was supposed to be just a one-shot fic, but I ended up dragging the story. I don't feel like posting more than 3000 words per chapter, so I decided to divide this fic to two chapters.**

 **Anything I write right now is far from good, so I just hope that you enjoy reading this fic ! Thank you for your time ! :)**

 **Disclaimer : I don't own Free! and its characters.**

* * *

It was that mark again – dark bluish mark that looks like something had suck his blood through his pale skin. It had been two month since they moved to the new house and Haruka's skin had been decorated by that mark since then. Sometimes it appeared as a large bruise, sometimes it appeared as a small bruise; the small one often appears at more than one place. It wasn't like he hadn't complaint about it to Rin but being a busy businessman the crimson-haired was, he had almost no time to spend with Haruka to actually know what happened to him.

Whenever Haruka told him about it, he only replied with the same answer that he had always given – see the doctor. The blue-eyed male had done that countless of time, but all the doctor said about his condition was he is anemic; nothing else, nothing more. Even the doctor didn't have the answer for the bruises that kept appearing on his body and for how his blood kept disappearing. The doctor had examined him more than once but all the results kept telling them that Haruka has no disease. He was repeatedly asked if he was being abused, but of course, he wasn't.

Rin comes back once a week, sometimes once a month or the rarest is once every 3 days. He didn't even have the time to touch Haruka with his usual affectionate gesture, let alone abuse the blue-eyed male. Most of Haruka's time was spent at work in his restaurant or special events that requires him to leave the house for days. When he has some time at home he usually does activities that he could do alone like sewing, crafting, gardening, painting and composing that he ended up developing lots of different skills over time. The latest activity he had involved himself in was tending after his herb garden.

Haruka let out a heavy sigh as he looked at another mark on another part of his body. 'This is getting worse…', he thought, leaving the big mirror that reflected his naked body fully. He slipped his body into the bathtub, the sanctuary he had always loved since he was little. He let the cold water enveloped his body, giving him a sense of serenity. Gradually, he slipped himself deeper into the water, until he had fully laid his back on the bottom of the bathtub. Being deep inside the water had always made him feel very comfortable.

He loves how quiet it is when he is deep inside the water – no sounds from the outer world could enter his sanctuary. 'Rin… I miss you…', he thought, staring at the ceiling of the bathroom through the water. He didn't know how many had he said those words ever since he lived with Rin; it was too often that even he himself had forgotten to count. This time, Rin went to London with his mother for a business trip with his mother for a week. It had been 5 days since he left, so there were another 2 days left until his return. He had been missing him so much.

* * *

"Poor guy…", a violet-haired male uttered, caressing Haruka's hair lovingly, his golden eyes staring at the serene face of the sleeping male. Since the first time he met Haruka, he had fallen in love with him. He had met lots of people, but Haruka appeared to be very different from those people and that made him felt like having the blue-eyed male as his own. "It's okay, dear… Everything had been set. Just a little bit more…", he muttered with a smile then gave a kiss on Haruka's cheek.

Yes. He only needed a little more time before Haruka become his own completely – he had been waiting for that day very patiently. He couldn't help but to feel very excited when thinking about having Haruka by his side since he had loved Haruka one-sidedly all this time. He was no longer a human to begin with since his life had ended a few years ago. That was why the blue-eyed male hadn't noticed him even once despite how many times the violet-haired male touched and talked to him.

"Rin…", Haruka muttered in his sleep as he changed his sleep position, hugging his shark-shaped plushie tight. The golden-eyed male clenched both his fists upon hearing that name – he hated that crimson-haired male. He couldn't see what Haruka loves in him aside from his looks. Personality-wise, Rin is helplessly hot-headed, full of pride, stubborn and fights over trivial things. When it comes to things he loves, the crimson-haired male is willing to do anything for it even if it means that he has to sacrifice something for it.

"What's so attractive with those ?", he asked, staring at the sleeping male as if demanding for an answer. "He hurts you a lot… Why are you still loving him ?"

* * *

The next day, Haruka woke up with a terrible headache and another bruise on his right arm. Slowly, he tried to sit, fumbling a bit as he was feeling a so lightheaded. He stayed still for a few moments, letting the lightheadedness to ease a bit before reaching for his cellphone on the table beside the bed. He flipped open the phone then stared at the screen, not knowing what to do with it. 'Should I call Rin ?', he thought while his finger was busy pressing on the buttons to dial Rin's number. After hesitating a little bit, he finally decided to give him a call.

"Hello…?", Rin answered the call with a sleepy voice.

"Sorry for disturbing your sleep…", Haruka apologized.

"Huh…? It's okay, Haru...", the crimson-haired male replied, still feeling groggy. "So… What's with this midnight call from you ?", Rin said. Haruka couldn't see what happened at the other side of the phone but he knew that the crimson-haired male was grinning.

"I miss you…", he replied with a voice that sounded like he was pouting to Rin – the crimson-haired male couldn't help but letting out a small laugh as he heard him.

"I miss you too, you know…", Rin replied, only to be greeted by a long pause of silence. "Hey… Haru… Are you okay ?"

"Yeah… Kind of… I'm just having headache. You know… The marks just won't stop coming… I'm getting tired of it already.", Haruka explained, trying to sound as monotonous as he always did but Rin could hear that his voice was different from usual. He sounded too tired, too weak that he could collapse any time.

"I'm coming home tomorrow.", Rin said and though his reply was short, it was enough to make the black-haired male's sapphire orbs to widen.

"Don't you still have things to do there ?"

"No… I already quit the company.", Rin explained, sounding very relieved, causing Haruka to frown at his words. "I've told mom about it."

'Rin is quitting ?', the blue-eyed male thought – he couldn't believe those words he heard. Rin loves his job so much that he put all of his efforts in it, so why would he make such decision ? Not to mention, he sounded so relieved. Haruka let out a sigh before replying to the crimson-haired male's words. "But you love that job…"

"I do. But you know… I feel like I'm losing something important because of that. I made you a sacrifice – I… I abandoned you.", Rin explained. Haruka could assume that his beloved shark was in getting teary by that time but he kept quiet. "Hey, Haru…"

"Hmm ?"

"Can I work with you ?", Rin uttered.

"Of course, you can… idiot.", Haruka replied, his fingers playing with the ring that was suspended from a necklace – both of them were made of silver. Haruka wasn't someone who likes wearing accessories but he had eventually gotten over that. With Rin being away from him most of the time, Haruka found himself needing for something that reminds him of the crimson-haired male, something that makes him feel like his beloved is always by his side; their wedding ring was the only thing that Haruka could always keep by his side whenever and wherever he wanted to.

Haruka could have worn the ring on his finger but since his profession needed him to use his hands a lot, he decided to make the ring as a pendant so that he could wear it with a necklace. The necklace felt awkward around his neck at first, but when he had finally gotten used to it, he ended up needing the necklace more than he thought. Somehow, with the ring hanging close to his heart, he could feel that the crimson-haired male would always be there, close to him whenever he felt like giving up or insecure – it gave him courage to believe in both himself and Rin.

"Won't your mother feel bothered by that ?", Haruka asked in concern.

"Well… maybe a 'bit' bothered, but she gave me her permission anyway.", Rin said, running his fingers through his red strands of hair.

"I see…", Haruka muttered, smiling. "Rin, I should get ready for work. It's already 8.30. "

"You should just leave the preparations to your workers. What's the point of having subordinates when you don't use them."

"Rin… I can't just let them do all the works for me."

"Fine… Take care, dear."

"I will. And the same goes to you… Tell me when you're going to board the flight and when you've landed. I'll pick you up."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too…"

* * *

From : Rin

Subject : I'm going home

Haru, I'm boarding the plane in 15 minutes. Can't wait to see you.

* * *

From : Haruka

Subject : Re: I'm going home

Can't wait to see you too… I'm in the kitchen right now, so bye.

* * *

"What a busy man you are…", Rin muttered under his breath then let out a sigh. He reached his passport, flipping the pages of the small book as he looked at all the stamps he got in the book, the proof that he had been going in and out his country a lot of time. "I guess I'm a lot busier. Well, I was."

 _"The marks just won't stop coming…"_

Rin frowned as he remembered Haruka's words last night. The black-haired male had complained about it so many times already and Rin had lost track on how many times he heard that complain – the occurrence was just too often. Rin thought it was a disease back then but when the doctors couldn't even pinpoint what kind of disease it actually is, he started to do his own research about it paranormally. The crimson-haired male wasn't someone who really believes in something he couldn't see but when he thought of when Haruka's marks had started appearing, he gradually accepting that paranormal things do exist.

So, he asked for help from Nagisa, the only person he could think of to help him solve that mystery. In the same time, every time Rin went outstation, he would make sure that he has his time to investigate about those marks that kept appearing on Haruka's skin from the library or the folks that live around. He regretted that he often leaves the blue-eyed male alone but until his mother allows him to leave the company he couldn't do anything about that. The only thing he could do was at least finding a way to stop those marks from appearing or he would regret it so much later.

Despite how busy Rin was, it wasn't like he hadn't noticed the changes in Haruka, physically and mentally. As the time flows, the blue-eyed male wasn't getting any better. His skin that was usually fine-toned had turned pale that it gives people an assumption of the skin being cold on touch, which was actually a bit true. All his well-built muscles had also started to disappear because of his lack of appetite. Rin had lectured him many times about it but all he got as a reply from Haruka was, 'I'll try', which means he won't do it when he doesn't want to.

The change that really broke Rin's heart was Haruka's new habit of asking him to stay home whenever he wanted to leave the house for work. It wasn't like he didn't like it, but when the black-haired male said it with a weak sounded voice added with his already fragile-looking frame, begging for him to stay by his side when he couldn't, it hurts him so much. He wanted to stay but he couldn't, so all he could do was telling Haruka that he'll be home soon and beg his mother to let him leave his position as soon as possible. Now that he got his chance to spend his time with his beloved water-freak, he won't waste it.

"Haru…We'll be fine after this…", he muttered before falling asleep.

* * *

Rin stretched his sore limbs as he got out of the plane – 10 hours staying in the same position had taken a toll on his body. Excitedly, he walked to the arrival hall, not wasting his time to walk out of the enormous building and meet his lover. While walking, he slipped out his phone from his pocket, turning the device on to check if anyone had sent him some mails or called him. As soon as the phone had done booting, a notification appeared, showing the number of calls and mails he had received during his 10 hours in flight.

"10 missed calls ? Seriously, Makoto…", Rin muttered, frowning at the number of missed calls he had gotten. "Wait… if it's from Makoto…"

Rin's crimson-orbs widen in fear as the realization hit him like a truck – if the emerald-eyed male had called him that much, then something must had happened to Haruka. The crimson-haired male shuddered at the thought, cold sweat slowly make their way down his skin. Hesitantly, he dialed Makoto's number, wishing for nothing but Haruka's safety.

"Rin.", Makoto said, sounding like he was trying to keep his calm. "Where are you ?"

"I just arrived. It's about Haru, right ?", Rin muttered.

"Yeah… He…"

"It's okay. I'll come directly to your house.", Rin said before he hang up the phone.

* * *

Haruka frowned as he looked at his surrounding – something looked and felt very wrong. He was awake yet he wasn't. He could move yet he couldn't. The blue-eyed male kept staring at his own body, trying to register what was happening to himself; it didn't make sense. "I'm awake… but my body doesn't…", he muttered under his breath. He went closer to the heart monitor machine, looking at the pattern drawn on the screen based on his heartbeat then let out a relieved sigh as he knew that he wasn't dead. "But why am I here ?", he asked himself in confusion.

"You're here to live with me.", a voice suddenly answered his question. Haruka immediately turned his head towards the direction where the voice came from – a violet-haired male was staring at him with his golden eyes, smiling. 'This guy…', Haruka thought to himself. Gradually, the stranger walked towards him, closing the distance between them, causing the black-haired male to move away in response.

"Why are you being so shy ?", the violet-haired male asked.

"I'm not. I'm just being wary of you.", Haruka said in his usual monotonous voice.

The violet-haired male let out a laugh as he heard his words. He walked closer to Haruka, ignoring the blue-eyed male's effort to keep himself away until he was close enough. "Wary of me ? You don't have to.", he said as he traced his fingers on Haruka's cheek.

"How shouldn't I when someone who has been trying to kill me is right in front of me ?", Haruka replied.

"Don't get me wrong, dear. I'm trying to save you from that bastard you called husband."

"Rin is not a bastard !", Haruka said, raising his voice in response to the other male's words, his sapphire orbs staring at the pair of golden eyes.

"You just said that because you're confused. If he loves you, he won't leave you alone that often."

Haruka let out a quivering laugh as he heard the words coming out of his mouth – he found the situation both infuriating and funny. He knew everything about the person in front of him. Despite how high and mighty he was when he badmouthed Rin, the violet-haired male was actually just the same. "I could say that the same goes to you…", Haruka muttered under his breath, causing the taller male to stiffen a bit. Seeing his reaction, the blue-eyed male gave a smirk. "Bingo, huh ?"

"How did you-"

"I've been investigating about that house, about you and about a guy named Masamune Hikaru. He's your husband. Oh, I mean 'was'. Isn't that right Sakuma Ryousuke ?"

* * *

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